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Hugh Douglas out at ESPN after verbal altercation w/ Michael Smith

The 1995 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Hugh Douglas spent 10 years in the NFL. (Ezra Shaw/ALLSPORT)
Hugh Douglas is no longer an ESPN employee.

“He no longer works for us effective today,” said an ESPN spokesperson.

The former NFL player and Numbers Never Lie panelist was let go by ESPN today after disturbing details emerged last week from Deadspin and The Big Lead regarding an alleged confrontation between Douglas and ESPN Numbers Never Lie host Michael Smith at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair in Orlando. ESPN issued a statement last Tuesday saying, “We are aware there was a disagreement between Hugh Douglas and Michael Smith. We are looking into the situation.”

Asked Sunday by SI.com where the situation stood, ESPN spokesperson Rob Tobias said, “We are continuing to look into it and we expect a resolution this week.”

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It’s been about 11 months since Hugh Douglas was fired by ESPN for allegedly calling Numbers Never Lie host Michael Smith an “Uncle Tom” while drunk at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair in Orlando. The incident finally made it clear that the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair is not the place to call someone an “Uncle Tom.”

Since then, Hugh has kept hush about the whole situation, but he recently spoke about it in the unlikeliest of places: The first episode the Cheap Shots podcast, hosted by former Eagles tight end Luther Broughton (caught 38 passes from 1999-2000) and co-host Micah Warren. According to the Daily News, Hugh told Broughton and Warren that he did not call Smith an “Uncle Tom,” but here’s what happened:

“So, Mike goes up on stage at the House of Blues. Now mind you, House of Blues has cameras, they have a digital feed all around the place. So, Mike was on stage, him and Jemele. And so I’m at the bottom of the stage, banging on the stage, I had just got there. So uh, Mike is on the stage, he’s doing his thing, he’s kind of looking at me, he’s giving me a funny look right. So, I try to go on stage, I did try to go on stage. Again, they told me I couldn’t come on stage. Fine. So I walk away.

So, Mike comes off the stage, and I walk up behind him and I’m like ‘Yo Mike, what’s going on?’ Mike puts his finger in my face and tells me ‘don’t you ever effing do that again.’ So, I laughed right, cause I laughed at first, I laughed. So I’m like ‘who is he talking to? I’m like, who is Mike?’ Cause you know Mike, Mike’s a little, he’s a little sensitive.

He says ‘don’t you ever effing do that again. And so I looked at him and I’m like ‘Mike what’s the matter?,’ and he walks away, so I walked behind him. And I’m like ‘dude, what’s going on?’ So he stopped and he’s talking to this young lady. So I walk up to Michael and I whisper in his ear. I said ‘Mike don’t you ever talk to me like that again, because I will beat your M F’ing A.’ Just like that.”
Hugh also claims he was not drunk, but the event was “certainly a party atmosphere.” So, there you have it. Hugh Douglas, fired for allegedly calling Michael Smith an “Uncle Tom,” instead claims he just told him he’d “beat [Smith's] mother****ing ***.” Which is also most definitely a fireable offense.